Weary to the bone
by Encrypted Pseudonym
Summary: Something's wrong with Axel. Can he recover before Paine makes his next bid for Landmark City? Or is he already involved? Oneshot.


Ok I managed to spew out yet another one-shot. It was again inspired by one of the words on the list of the thirty word fanfic challenge on the A.T.O.M. forums on tv. com. I'm not going to tell you the word till the end or it'll ruin the twist. This one is almost double the length of Construction (and I reckon it took half as long to write). I like it better than the first, it has a more substantial story line.

Again I warn you it hasn't been beta red so it may be littered with mistakes. Although I did read it out loud to my sister (much to her annoyance) and I couldn't spot anything then.

Disclaimer: Straitjacket said I could be one of the writers on the show, revealing all the plots to you fanfiction readers for the second series. Sadly this isn't the case and I'm just a poor student hell bent on avoiding revision. In case that wasn't clear, I don't own A.T.O.M.

* * *

"Axel watch out!" Lioness called stumbling backwards slightly as she blocked a powerful blow from Flesh.

"I got it." Axel replied easily dodging a hit from Paine and matching it with one of his own. Paine grabbed his wrist and pushed it down ending the attack. To counter this Axel brought a leg twisting upwards but Paine was ready and pushed his left fist forward forcing Axel to step back and throw himself off balance to avoid the punch.

Behind him Axel could hear the vicious fight between Lioness and Flesh and out of the corner of his eye he could see blurry insubstantial images of Hawk, Shark and King taking on Spydah. It was hot and Axel wiped an arm across his brow to remove the sweat that was stinging his eyes. The ground beneath his feet was solid, but dry and cracked and every so often a cool breeze would blow around them and then over the edge of the cliff that was to his right.

Axel grunted in pain as Paine's right fist connected with shoulder, knocking him backwards onto the floor. He quickly flipped to his feet and stood ready to face Paine again, panting slightly from the exertion.

"It's over Manning." Paine cackled, the scars on his face standing out in stark contrast to his pale skin.

"Oh yeah, bring it on!" Axel spat still breathing heavily but itching for the fight. Paine's crimson, bloodshot eyes narrowed in anger and he pushed forward one leg swinging up to strike. Axel stopped the blow and drew on the strength of Jolan. "Jo Lan Chomatsu." he cried twisting his palms together and thrusting forward.

Nothing happened. Paine let out a peel of maniacal laughter and grabbed the still confused brunette by the neck and lifted him from the floor. _Why hadn't the Jolan worked?_ Axel wondered hanging limply in Paine's grip.

"Bye-bye Manning." He growled and tossed Axel off the cliff. Axel tried to yell, but no sound came out. His arms and legs flailed as he plummeted to earth.

He woke with a start legs tangled in his bed covers, sweat on his forehead. His breathing was short and sharp and his heart pounded loudly in his chest. On his desk the fan hummed quietly and swivelled backwards and forwards blowing cold air through the room. Axel shivered, not so much from the breeze but the intensity of the dream he'd just had. His stomach was churning and he felt slightly nauseous.

* * *

Hawk was slumped on the couch shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight that poured through the huge glass windows.

"The police have yet to release a statement as to the mystery disappearance of Dr. Alan Conicio from Lee Industries Private Hospital last week." The reporter said in a nasal voice. "His wife reported the man missing when he didn't return home from work. Conicio often worked late into the evenings as his job demanded high levels of commitment. One of his colleagues working in the science and psychology of dreams section of the hospital stated 'Alan is such a lovely man. I have no idea where he could have gone. I hope he returns safe and unharmed.'"

"Dude, this is so boring change the channel." Shark complained vaulting over the back of the couch and starting Hawk from his doze. He jolted awake and slid from the sofa landing in a heap on the floor.

"All grace and poise aren't you Hawk." Lioness laughed as she stepped over the red head and stole his seat. Shark grabbed the remote and flicked through a few channels before settling on an extreme sports channel.

"Guys!" Hawk whined from the floor.

"Now this is more like it." Lioness commented completely ignoring the boy on the floor.

"Yeah! Now he's catching air!" Shark exclaimed following a particularly impressive snowboarding trick, eyes shining. The attention was drawn away from the screen as Axel stumbled sleepily from his room and headed, bleary eyed for the bathroom.

"Guys," Lioness said "I'm worried about Axel."

"Something is totally off." Shark agreed. "Have you seen how wiped he is all the time?"

"Do you think he's ill?" Hawk asked. "Because if he's coming down with something keep him away, I always need to look my best and colds totally aren't attractive."

Lioness gave him a disgusted look. "If he gets any worse I'll have a word." she said.

"Have a word with who?" Axel asked groggily as he came back into the room.

Hawk, Shark and Lioness all jumped and tried to suppress the guilty looks on their faces. Axel didn't notice though, he was too busy yawning. "Who's up for some breakfast I'm starved." He said stretching and letting the bones pop in his spine.

"Dude more like lunch." Shark pointed out frowning.

"I slept that late again?" Axel said looking down at his watch. Sure enough the numbers 13.20 flashed back at him.

"Did anyone say lunch?" King called from the kitchen sticking his head through the door into the living room. "How about King's fry up surprise. With extra chilli."

"What's in it again?" Hawk asked as they all sat round the table.

"Spicy sausages, potato waffles, baked beans, fried tomatoes and chilli sauce." King said proudly shoving a fork-full into his mouth.

"So what's the surprise?" Lioness questioned poking at the food on her plate suspiciously.

"The ice-cream and chocolate sauce." King told her. Shark, who had been shovelling the food down, turned a little green.

"Eww, gross." Lioness cried pushing her plate away.

"We'd better go anyway." Hawk said. "Mr. Lee said something about testing some new rides."

"Alright! Lets go!" Lioness whooped jumping up. Shark, King and Hawk followed suit but Axel remained seated.

"Axel." King said prodding him in the shoulder. Axel looked as though he had been moments away from dropping off, head propped up by one hand.

"Wha-! Oh right, gear it up!" He exclaimed getting up and following the others out.

* * *

"Now we're talking." Hawk grinned, rubbing is hands together eagerly as Mr. Lee unveiled the sparkling new motorbikes.

"Totally awesome!" Shark said, lifting a leg to straddle the bike that was painted yellow with blue bars printed on the sides.

"These are sophisticated vehicles..." Mr. Lee began but was cut off by King.

"Save the spiel, we know what we're doing and I wanna try these baby's out."

Mr. Lee sighed shoulders slumping. "Just try not to wreck them." He said despairingly but the Alpha teens were already revving up and shooting out of the garage.

"Lets head over to the quarry, we can really put pedal to the metal out there." King suggested as they threaded between the traffic of Landmark City expertly manoeuvring around the cars.

They pulled up on the gravelly ground, tyres crunching over the small stones and surveyed the empty quarry before them, the long flats interspersed with bumps and hillocks perfect for jumping. Hawk's engine roared to life and he sped off down the hill the others quickly following.

He reached the first bump and shot into the air and lifting his body out of the seat he pulled off a perfect handstand on the handlebars. Lioness was in the air moments later her legs flying out in the splits. Shark and King reached the jump simultaneously, King stood up on his bike while Shark twisted in the air skidding a bit when he landed and slid across the gravel before zooming after the others.

Axel watched them speed ahead. He wanted to feel the excitement and adrenaline rush they were probably all experiencing but a terrible lethargy seemed to be weighing him down. He felt like he hadn't slept in a week and as he reached the first incline all he could manage was a simple jump the landing jarring his tired bones.

His eyes were scratchy with sleep and everything seemed a little hazy. He was started from his daze when something huge sprung into his path and he was forced to veer to his left the bike sliding out from underneath him as he lost control. Wincing he slowly picked himself up and a loud guffawing filled his ears.

"Flesh." Axel grumbled pulling off his helmet and turning to face the large man. In the distance he could see the cloud of dust where his friends had halted, turning back to help him. Flesh was the first to attack swinging his massive fist at Axel. There was little technique in it but the brute force more than made up for his lack of finesse. Axel ducked under the blow and kicked upwards catching Flesh in the chest although due to his weary state it was not that powerful a hit.

Flesh smiled toothily, pleased with something, and went for Axel again. Axel sidestepped already out of breath and drew up his power. His eyes seemed to glow and he cried "Jo Lan Chomatsu." his hands flowing through the required movements but sluggishly. The gust of power that hit Flesh knocked him backwards and Axel fell to his knees drained. Before Flesh could advance again the other teens pulled up rushing to Axel's side. Flesh took off and Shark removed his helmet.

"Man, why did he attack alone?" he said before turning his attention to Axel.

"What's Paine up to?" Hawk asked.

"Axel you don't look so hot buddy." King said helping the brunette to his feet.

"I'm fine." Axel insisted.

"Nevertheless I think we should head back." Lioness told them.

"Aww man... we barely even got to try the rides." Shark complained, Lioness glared at him and he hastily changed track. "I mean, I totally want to get home, who cares about stupid bikes anyway."

* * *

The windows of the warehouse were so grimy the bright sunlight of the afternoon could barely penetrate them. In the gloom a man, about forty years old with thinning hair, was cowering in a chair. Alexander Paine towered over him his broad shoulders blocking out what little light had managed to get through the dirty glass.

"A... all I'm asking is why can't you let me go? I did what you told me." The man begged the stutter in his voice making him sound all the more pathetic.

"Because, Alan, I have no guarantee that the work you did on the inhibitor was successful. Dragon may have stopped me from destroying Manning last time and I want the inhibitor mark two to run perfectly." Paine growled. "Besides I could get used to a man of your talents being around."

"Please, I just want to see my wife." Alan tried.

"Dr. Conicio you are trying my patience." Paine said, face an ugly grimace. "And men who try my patience get punished." He laid his hand across Dr. Conicio's face. A green light began to glow between them and Conicio let out an awful howl of pain.

"Uh... boss." Flesh said, unwilling to interrupt when Paine was in such a mood.

"Ahh, Flesh, how did your meeting go?" Paine asked letting the twitching Dr. Conicio drop to the floor.

"Manning was weak." Flesh reported eager to impress. "He used his, uh, Jolin thingy and it barely knocked me back, seemed to drain him even more too."

"Excellent." Paine smiled, his eyes gleaming. "Fetch Spydah, its time to initiate part two of the plan."

"Right away boss." Flesh turned to leave.

"Oh and Flesh. Take Dr. Conicio away and remind him that if he misses his wife so much I can always arrange to have her brought here."

"No!" Conicio coughed weakly as he was picked up roughly by Flesh.

* * *

"I'm fine!" Axel almost yelled frustrated as he was asked yet again how he was feeling. "I'm just tired is all."

"Ok." Lioness said skeptically. "Just try and get some rest and we'll drop the bikes back to Mr. Lee." Axel gave a curt nod and stormed off to his room flinging himself onto his bed.

"There's nothing wrong with me." He grouched to himself as he kicked off his shoes. Even as he said this he knew it was a lie. His eyelids were already getting heavy. _Maybe a quick nap will help._ He thought and drifted easily off not even registering that his friends were calling their goodbyes as he headed out the door.

"_Axel, son, you need to concentrate." His father said, holding out a hand for Axel to target._

_They were in a forest. The trees that surrounded them were tall and the sun shone through the leaves bathing everything in a warm greenish light. "Ok Dad." Axel said happily. He took a swing at the outstretched palm but missed and laughed as he fell to the floor._

"_Are you ok son?" His father asked concerned, bending down next to him._

"_Yeah." The young Axel replied looking up at the man he adored. His father frowned._

"_Your ankle, you're sure its not hurt?" Before Axel could reply the scene faded around him._

_He was in a hospital corridor now, back to his normal age._

"_Axel!" Lioness called out. He spun and she hobbled up on crutches, her foot wrapped in plaster. He was back to the time when Paine's daughter had masqueraded as a doctor and falsely diagnosed Lioness with a broken leg to get her out the way._

"_Hey Lioness." Axel said slightly disorientated. He wished he could go back to the scene with his father. "Umm... How's the leg?"_

"_It's ok." She replied then looked down at his. "You look like you need the crutches as much as I do. You could have an infection in your ankle." She said but before he could ask what she meant by that the scene faded again._

_Something was tickling his arm. He looked down and saw a spider crawling over his flesh. He shuddered as he heard an echo of the sinister snicker that was a trade mark of Spydah, Paine's faithful crony._

In Axel's room Spydah loomed over the sleeping figure. He laughed then froze as the brunette stirred slightly, letting out a small groan before settling back down. Spydah scooped up the teen with three of his metal limbs, careful not to disturb him, and carried him away.

About 10 minutes later Lioness, Shark, Hawk and King, burst through the door laughing and joking.

"I'll just go and check on Axel." Lioness said.

"Dude, you looked so lame!" Shark laughed boisterously and Hawk crossed his arms, still sulking.

"And when you tripped up, the look she gave you, man it was priceless." King chuckled.

"Guys." Lioness interrupted looking grim. "It's Axel... He's gone."

* * *

Axel woke to the warm stuffy air of a gloomy room. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the dark. His wrists were shackled together and attached by a chain to the wall. He struggled weakly, the chain rattling as he moved, but he was just so tired.

"Ahh, Manning, you're awake at last." An all too familiar voice boomed.

"Paine." Axel said, voice hoarse. The broad, well built man came into view, overshadowing the teen. Axel managed to sit up, back against the wall and Paine lent forwards, laughing cruelly.

"Stubborn to the last, you really are your father's son." Paine said gruffly, he caught Axel roughly by the chin forcing him to stare into his red eyes.

"My father..." Axel faltered his thinking fuzzy with weariness. "I'll get you for what you did you him Paine." Paine just grinned.

"You think you can take me?" He asked. "Well you can't say I'm not a fair man, I'll let you try." With that he pulled a key from his pocket and released Axel from his restraints.

Axel struggled to his feet, his movements slow and lethargic. He took a swing at the man before him but missed and fell to his knees again.

"Is that all you've got?" Paine cackled, cuffing Axel with a fist lightly, but enough to send him sprawling onto his back. Axel groaned with frustration he wanted to fight Paine but he was barely able to muster up the energy to crawl away.

* * *

"Oh dear." Mr. Lee said over the phone. "Well if you think Paine is behind it the police recently got an anonymous tip off that he's hiding out in an abandoned warehouse. They think he's connected with the Dr. Conicio case as well you see."

"Thanks Mr. Lee." Lioness managed before slamming down the phone. She didn't mean to be rude but she wanted to find Axel as quickly as possible, especially if Paine had him.

The team rushed to the vehicles and sped out into the city each of them painfully aware that Axel hadn't been there to command "Gear it up!"

"Well if Paine's hiding anywhere this would be it." King commented quietly taking in the grubby dilapidated building.

"Talk about cliche." Hawk said wrinkling his nose.

They snuck round the back and climbed in through a broken window. They were in one corner of a massive room. Old crates and boxes were piled up around them and when they peered over them disused machinery cut them off from the rest of the space.

"Shh!" Lioness hissed accusingly as Shark knocked over a crate causing a dull thud. They all froze and in the sudden silence a shuffling and a muffled moaning could be heard. Creeping round a corner, through the maze of boxes, they spotted a man in a dirty lab coat chained up and gagged. It was from him that the sounds had been heard. The man's eyes widened in fear and he began to struggle even more frantically.

"It's all right." Lioness assured him gently.

"Yeah, we're the good guys." King said.

"My name's Hawk and I'll be your rescuer for this evening." Hawk told him proudly. Lioness reached forward to remove the man's gag, he flinched, then relaxed and let her get to work loosening the knots.

"Man, I know who you are!" Shark exclaimed suddenly, eyes widening in recognition. "You're that Dr. Dude from the news." Dr. Conicio nodded frantically and coughed slightly as the gag came free.

"Dr. Conicio." He said by way of introduction. "Paine kidnapped me and made me develop something he called the inhibitor."

"So that's why Axel was so damned tired." King commented.

"I don't know. You think he would have noticed a dirty great ring strapped round his ankle." Hawk pointed out.

"No, it's not that big anymore. Version two is only about the size of a five pence piece, it attaches to the skin and is barely noticeable, especially if your feeling its effects, your friend probably didn't even know it was there."

Lioness frowned. "What did Paine make you do."

"He... I... I worked on the inhibitor for him. I'm an expert in the science of dreams and I altered it so it makes you live and experience your dreams. That way you aren't getting any rest at night so it saps you of your strength. It's a little more slow acting but still highly potent."

"You..." Lioness took a deep breath and closed her eyes reigning in her anger. "Why did you give in to his demands."

"You don't understand." Dr. Conicio said fearfully. "He threatened my wife and there was this light... and pain, so much pain." He shuddered as though reliving a ghost of the experience.

"Alright, we'll get you out of here." King promised. "We just need to find a key."

"Hey!" Shark said bending down to retrieve something shiny from the floor. As he did so a mechanical limb, tipped with a sharp pincer, shot out and snapped in the air just where Shark's head had been. "I found your key." He finished standing back up and walking over to them. Hawk and King dashed passed him to where Spydah was hiding in the shadows.

"We know you're there." King called charging forward but hitting nothing but a stack of crates which instantly toppled. Spydah snickered from his perch on the machinery. Shark stayed put to help Dr. Conicio out of his chains, while Lioness and Hawk advanced.

Hawk clambered up onto the machine in an effort to reach Spydah but he just laughed harder and pressed a button. The machine creaked and groaned before sputtering to life. The conveyer belt jolted to a start beneath Hawk's feet.

"Huh!" Hawk cried and took a couple of steps forward to catch his balance and make up for the fact that the belt was moving him away from Spydah and steadily picking up speed. Spydah reached forward with a spindly leg to snap at Hawk but he ducked now running to stay in one place.

Flesh came lumbering into the space, dragging his barbell in one hand. "Oh hell no." King complained picking himself up from where he had fallen with the crates. Flesh headed for Lioness and raised his weights above his head, she vaulted over the conveyor belt and Flesh brought it crashing down on that instead.

The barbell smashed through the rickety machine and the belt continued to be fed through, bunching at Hawks feet now that it had nowhere to go. Hawk tripped on it, teetering in balance for a second, arms flailing, before crashing over face first.

At the other end of the warehouse there was a cry of pain and an eerie green glow illuminated the area just beyond the machinery.

"Axel!" Lioness called, torn between backing up her friends and going to help Axel.

"Go." King said tackling Flesh as Shark tapped Spydah on the shoulder and then put his hands in his pockets whistling innocently as though he hadn't done it. Spydah snarled at him poised to attack but by that point Hawk had gotten to his feet and he jumped forward kicking Spydah in the back and knocking him flat.

Lioness didn't need anymore encouragement as she scrambled over the machinery and came out just in time to see Paine towering over Axel hand out covering his face. Lioness didn't hesitate. She dropped and spun, her leg shooting out to knock Paine's legs out from underneath him. Paine let out a growl of disbelief.

"Foolish girl." He spat. Getting up and advancing on her.

"Axel." Lioness said frantically, backing away. "Listen to me. Paine has a new inhibitor, he's attached one to you somewhere. Remove it and you'll get your strength back."

Axel heard someone talking to him but the voice was so far away, muffled as though they were speaking in a different room. _Inhibitor?_ He thought as he lay there a pain throbbing in his head, but dulled because he was so tired.

"_Your ankle, you're sure its not hurt?"_ His father's voice echoed in his head. Great, he was pretty sure he wasn't even asleep and now he was hearing things.

"_You look like you need the crutches as much as I do. You could have an infection in your ankle."_ The dream voice of Lioness whispered.

_Of course!_ He thought dazedly. The inhibitor was on his ankle, that's why he'd been dreaming about it. Axel reached down scrabbling at first one ankle, then the other. He felt a coin sized disk peel away and instantly the energy began to flow back through his body. He climbed to his feet and dropped the inhibitor crushing it under foot.

"It's over Paine." He said just as the man was about to strike Lioness. Paine spun round surprised and roared in anger. In the distance sirens could be heard, rushing towards them to check out the lead on the Dr. Conicio case.

Paine retreated beckoning Flesh and Spydah to come with him. The Alpha Teens gave chase and got out of the warehouse just in time to see Paine pulling away in a large armoured van.

* * *

"Man I'm whipped!" King complained collapsing onto the couch back home.

"Who wants to have another round on those bikes?" Axel asked brightly.

"Nu uh." Lioness said shaking her head.

"I'm going to catch some Z's." Shark announced slouching towards his bedroom.

"I second that." Hawk said following.

"Sounds like a plan." Lioness added.

"Wait for me." King whined struggling to his feet. Axel pouted as he watched them go.

* * *

In case you hadn't guessed the word I chose was 'dreams'. Please review and tell me what you think, an unhealthy spiel about how great you think I am, a two word comment, a four page tirade about my sins against the show that is A.T.O.M. I don't mind, just as long as you review. 


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